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If the only thing on your mind this morning is a hangover, spare
a foggy thought for those poor acrobats of Circus Oz.

A performance last night and two more today (1.30pm and 7.30pm,
Moore Park, $28-$48) mean celebratory drinks are strictly
forbidden.

"All of the acrobats had to act like it's just another day,
because you've got to have your wits about you, really," explains
Mike Finch, Oz's artistic director.

Not that working through the festive season is all bad. In fact,
Finch says, setting up tent in Moore Park throughout the summer
holidays is one of the highlights of the company's calendar. "It's
really exciting because you've just got this great vibe," he says.
"Because of where the tent is, right outside the SCG, there's just
this great feeling. When there's a big cricket match on, it's
amazing. You can hear the roar of the crowd, and our crowd is going
off in here. It's just a really good holiday sort of feeling."

This Sydney season of Circus Oz, which had its gala opening two
nights ago, runs until February 6.

Take me to the opera

One person having the time of her life last night was the New
Zealand-born opera singer Wendy Dawn Thompson. She was invited by
Opera Australia to take part in the gala concert at the Sydney
Opera House.

Thompson plays Dorabella, a role she mastered during a season
last year with England's Garsington Opera. "I'm really thrilled
that I've been given this opportunity in Sydney," says 29-year-old
Thompson. "It is a big deal for me; huge. I've sung in the UK, but
I've not actually made a professional solo debut in either
Australia or New Zealand. I was excited enough to be offered the
role, and then I found out it was going to be the opening night of
the season."

So how does performing Mozart in Australia compare with doing
exactly the same thing in the Britain? "It's better, I must say.
It's the same rehearsals, but with an Australian attitude, which is
much more pleasant than the European one."

Williamson returns

A new season, another world premiere of a David Williamson play.
It's almost the form for the folk at Kirribilli's Ensemble Theatre,
and artistic director Sandra Bates couldn't imagine a finer way to
see in the new year.

"It's pretty all right, isn't it?" says Bates. "We've been doing
David's plays now for some years. I think this is the fourth or
fifth premiere we've had.

So I think he seems to quite like what we do with them."

Operator (from January 6, $19-$47) deconstructs the
moral development of a young business tycoon, readying himself for
a career in corporate fraud.

"He's written a play about how these guys start out and why
doesn't someone pull them up early in their careers before they do
all the damage," says Bates, who also directs the piece.

"The character [played by Williamson's son, Rory] is so charming
and charismatic that everybody is taken in by him."

Starting on such a high note, Bates is expecting a bumper year
for the Ensemble. "In terms of subscribers, it's our second biggest
year so far," she says.

"In terms of single tickets sold, I think it's our best year
ever, and it hasn't even started."

Glass at the House

Sheik Khalil Chami, a Muslim cleric as well as the manager of
the Islamic Welfare Centre in Lakemba and a police chaplain,
doesn't have much time for or interest in popular music or film. So
he didn't know what to make of a call from the Sydney Opera House
asking if he would be interested in performing with a chap named
Philip Glass.

As part of the live performances of the Qatsi Trilogy
(from Thursday, Concert Hall, $45-$90), Glass's people had asked
the Opera House crew to find a holy man capable of singing the
"azan" - the Arabic call for prayer - in the climactic scene of
Powaqqatsi. "I don't know who mentioned my name for the
Opera House," Chami says. "But the lady rang me and asked if we
could talk about it.

I said I had to see the film before we could have anything else
to say." Chami was impressed.

"I really enjoyed it, because it is a film that has no words, no
one to speak at all. It is a beautiful film in any way that you
want to understand it. So I was really happy to be a part of
it."